Bursting into the music scene in 1996, Fiona Apple stunned everyone with her critically acclaimed debut album Tidal.
She was synonymous with one particular event that took place on when she received an MTV Award and retorted with a response involving expletives towards the music community. It was an amusing moment, as this 19 year old teenager stepped forward to present a metaphorical middle finger to an industry she said she despised.
It’s all rather ironic then, that she made money from the sales of the album. Of course she was young, full of angst, the newest Alanis Morrisette if you will. Truth be told, she is closer to Tori Amos than Alanis’s rage-against-that-time-of-the-month fury. She even poses in a few posters, much as Tori did and does now. Well, they do say imitation is a form of flattery.
Still cynicism aside as to the ambition and motivation for Apple, Tidal was well received by the music press for the most part as an angsty, raunchy and sultry album. Criminal was the track that broke Fiona Apple through to the critics, if not the mainstream, and the rest of the album is as good and yet in some measure less so.
There seems to be a balance between that of jazz/blues and ballads with the album, and this very much fits in with the jazz/blues theme
Angst ahoy with Sleep to Dream, where Apple seems to have gone a few octaves lower but still maintaining a beautiful, sultry, dark voice. The mix of piano, drums, and hard spoken lyrics mix well together to give you a flavour of what’s to come from the rest of the album. It’s a very damning track, with not much room for positivity or joy, but then she was 19 and shit happens a lot during those years. It does provide a reasonably strong opening with a pleasantly melancholy piano piece towards the end.
Sullen Girl is perhaps self evident of the what you can expect from the lyrics of the track. Played mostly with piano and string instruments, Apple plays the sultry mistress of darkness again, yet this is very much a contrast in tone and strength compared to the first track.
It’s much more gentle, almost drifting in a boat on a river type of ease. It still contains the angst, but it’s shown and demonstrated in a much more accessible, positive and mature manner than the preachy thunder of Sleep to Dream, and easily stands as one of my favourite tracks on the album.
We move on to a more bluesy track with Shadow Boxer, Apple taking back the low octave voice, with deep voice and lyrics of betrayal. Sometimes stretching her voice, and showing her ability to sing better than she often does. It’s the sort of track you’d expect to hear in a smokey blues club, with a glass of whiskey and a lot of miserable looking people enjoying themselves. Thus far there is a differential between the first three tracks, and shows a sign of the breadth of Apple’s voice, if not her lyrical expression.
Already mentioned, critical acclaim was provided thanks to the next track, Criminal. The video was notoriously banned for showing a scantily clad teen, and lyrically it seemed to apply a dominance of sexual prowess. It probably put a lot of parents off, and no doubt this caused the ban. It’s a sexy song, with Apple announcing she’s “been a bad, bad girl”.
It’s catchy, has a funky edge and plays well to the listener. It’s the sort of song you could possibly sing along to if you were so inclined. I do like it, and amongst the best tracks on the album, it ranks with them, mixing piano (she loves piano, much like her idol Tori Amos), with jazzy sounds with a modern slant.
We almost end up in the land of Gloria Estefan with The First Taste. The calypso-esque, 80s guitar and wedding bell sound just immediately reminds me of that sort of era
Slow Like Honey is more than just the name of the track, it actually plays slow like honey, with a pace (if it can be called that) that would probably find difficulty in beating a snail. I’m not knocking the track, it’s very good, it plays very much like Shadow Boxer, and is really quite beautiful with Apple demonstrating her aptitude in expressing something a little less angsty, and a little more sexual and open emotionally. Still, the pace may put others off, or put them in to a coma entirely.
If you like jazz, if you like slow blues, then you will like this track. It’s sexy as hell, with Apple barely singing, and almost lazily muttering the words, as if she put herself in to coma. Seriously, it’s a lovely track but I guess as Norah Jones is considered good, then there’s no reason why today’s listener couldn’t deal with a track like this I guess. She does pick up the volume towards the end, almost as if she’s trying to reach the people at the back who didn’t hear what she was saying. Of course, I’m just being flippant now, but that’s the mood I’m in when I’m tired.
We almost end up in the land of Gloria Estefan with The First Taste. The calypso-esque, 80s guitar and wedding bell sound just immediately reminds me of that sort of era of music, and that sort of artist. It’s a pretty poor track compared to the quality on the rest of the album, and it seems more of an experiment, rather than something that was preordained as “What Fiona Apple can do”.
She wouldn’t be able to do a Metallica, just as she can’t do a Gloria Estefan. Let’s let J-FatAss-Lo carry on the tradition of letting people know she’s “from the block”, even though she hasn’t bothered visiting said block since forever. Apple should get on with what she does best. It does better towards the end, with a more Mediterranean, far eastern feel, but it’s still a weak track.
However, Never Is A Promise is a familiar territory for Apple fan’s. We return with the eponymous piano, for the first minute of the track. Apple is more intimate, honest and vulnerable with this track, the violins play gently in the background momentarily as the piano returns its dominance melodically.
Apple demonstrating her aptitude in expressing something a little less angsty, and a little more sexual and open emotionally. Still, the pace may put others off, or put them in to a coma entirely
If there was a song to play at funerals, and people didn’t care about the lyrics, this would count as something quite beautiful. Of course the lyrics aren’t sympathetic, or flattering. Apple doesn’t do flattery, even if her voice says one thing, her lyrics say “FUCK YOU”. No matter how miserable the lyrics are, Apple’s angelic voice drifts over you like splashes of water on the day of a heatwave. It’s refreshingly alive, beautiful and strong, which then quickens and picks up the pace towards the last couple of minutes. A wonderfully delicate ballad, with lyrics like a bitch.
Returning to the jazzy blues momentum with The Child is Gone, we start to perhaps to see a pattern where Apple becomes a lot harder with a certain type of music. She plays the blues well, and expresses her emotion deeply and satisfyingly with this tune. It’s harsh, rather than gentle, but if you want melancholy, then it’s all here waiting for your ears. There seems to be a balance between that of jazz/blues and ballads with the album, and this very much fits in with the jazz/blues theme. It’s not bad, it resides with The First Taste at the lower end of the album in terms of quality.
Pale September is perhaps the most striking tracks, misguiding someone at the expectation that this is one of the darker tracks on the album, aside from the melodic depression expressed within the piano playing, the lyrics are far from being uplifting. It’s almost mysterious, waiting for something to happen, and then Apple breaks away from the depression into her beautiful voice of hypnosis. It’s a more gentle track than it first suggests, and it’s rather contrasting, almost like two different tracks melded into one. It’s gorgeous, it’s different and it doesn’t pertain to the usual expectations. It makes a refreshing change from the rest of the album, and with continued listening, it’s easy to see why it could be a real favourite on the album.
The final track on the album, Carrion, is mixture of the jazz/blues for the most part, but then there’s the interruption of a little sighing and tiredness from Apple in the form of slowing the pace, making the music louder and brasher and expressing her frustration almost. Then we’re taken back to the very cool, chilled jazz/blues sound again. It’s interesting, and has many similarities of mixing two almost contrasting styles in to one track. For most this may seem a touch unnerving and adventurous, it’s almost like having two contrasting personalities giving their opinions on the same subject. As the end of the album approaches, Apple goes into a more rockier mode, mixing a chaos of styles from guitar and xylophone to violin and drums in to a crescendo.
It was an amusing moment, as this 19 year old teenager stepped forward to present a metaphorical middle finger to an industry
As debut albums go, I’ve heard much worse. Not to say that Apple’s album is bad, but it’s just a statement to say that with the few weak tracks that there are on this album, you can’t deny the fact that this is very accomplished and well produced. It’s understandable to see why she was such a hit with the critics back in 1996, and she was for me then what Norah Jones and similar artists are now for 2004.
Of course, this could be said for any decade and any generation. I did mention that Tori Amos was an influence, and this perhaps not so evident in the album as she goes for the jazz/blues influence, but it’s perhaps more obvious in her ballads. This is no bad thing.
Apple has only made two albums thus far, and Tidal is no exception to good music. It’s a great album very much overall, and aside from some minor skirmishes with tedium and monotony, it’s a success in terms of establishing her name, and she won herself another fan in me. I was only 16 then, and a bigger perv that fancied the bloody pants off her.
Verdict: Not wholly original, but a beautiful, intense and interesting debut from a teenage prodigy.
Track Listing
1. Sleep To Dream
2. Sullen Girl
3. Shadowboxer
4. Criminal
5. Slow Like Honey
6. The First Taste
7. Never Is A Promise
8. The Child Is Gone
9. Pale September
10. Carrion